Question: William has 16 nectarines for every 12 coconuts. Write the ratio of nectarines to coconuts as a simplified fraction.
Explanation: Ratios can be written in a few different ways that mean the same thing. You can express a ratio with a colon separating the two numbers. $16:12$ You can write it out as a phrase like this. $16 \text{ to } 12$ Or, you can express a ratio as a fraction. $\dfrac{16}{12}=\dfrac{4}{3}$ Therefore, $\dfrac{4}{3}$ is the ratio of nectarines to coconuts written as a simplified fraction.